These look interesting, has anyone here tried them?
Sal
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-2pcs-Fishing-Hook-Keeper-Bait-Holder-Install-Rod-High-Quality-/320987539337?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4abc592789
Haven't come across them meself, though a small zip tie and split ring set-up is very common here in NZ.
The boat that I work on has 15-20% Asian passengers & I haven't seen anything like this with anyone. We do eat good.
Sal: I use them. They work pretty good keeping the hook out of the way. Dominick
Hey Sal,
I use a very similar product by Fuji for the past 10+ years with marginal success. I say this due the fact that my product uses an o-ring to secure the hook keeper to the blank vs the design displayed by your thread. The one your showing on ebay seems to be an improvement over mine in the area of the propietary black rubber fastner used to attach to the rod blank. My Fuji brand as stated uses an o-ring which didnt fit the diameter of the blanks near the foregrips. This was easily remmedied by using larger o-rings for larger blank diameters. Next was the size of hooks (wire diameter) to pass thru the eye molded in the hook keeper. This may be modified with heat gun or it may ruin it all together. Aside from the above and most irritating is the fact that with the o-rings in my units they tend to roll and to that extent come off and therefore lose the unit. Ive lost about two. Bottom line, I still have them on some rods with the factory (small thin diameter) o-ring that doesnt seem to roll due to its thinner diameter on my light weight rods (6-12). The ones on most of my 20-30# rods have fallen off/lost. Heres some pics of my Fuji product:
(http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q535/LTM51/HOOK%20KEEPER/IMG_0002.jpg)
(http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q535/LTM51/HOOK%20KEEPER/IMG_0010.jpg)
Call me old-school; but any new rods built going forward will have hook-keepers made for them.
Hope this helps,
Leo
Thanks guys!
Leo, I've seen a few in the past, but never seen the ones that I'm showing and yours. You have a good point about the o ring, maybe I'll give these a try, it's only a couple of dollars. My problem is when I move to different spots with the boat. Some of my rods came with them on already, but I'm not crazy about them, the eye's too small. I hate to admit, but I still have a bad habit of placing the hook on the reel foot.
Quote from: redsetta on September 26, 2012, 01:32:43 AM
Haven't come across them meself, though a small zip tie and split ring set-up is very common here in NZ.
I just use the zip ties that have the hole for mounting them to a wall with a screw. Very very cheap.
I didn't try those on my rods but I have a few on the boat holding thing nicely in place. What I've noticed with the zip ties is that they don't last :-\.
Sal, because of the o-ring issue all reel 20# and up have rod clamps with lanyard/hook option molded in (use the harness lugs on TANKS).
Conchydong, I like the idea of those zip ties. When they break there economical to replace. Great tip, thanks.
Leo
Everything suggested here are great ideas just which way to go for each person,they have something similar to that hook keeper at wallyworld,me I just do like Leo and use my harness lugs but those zipties look like a great way to go for lighter tackle.Thanks for sharing.
Quote from: LTM on September 26, 2012, 12:30:03 PM
Sal, because of the o-ring issue all reel 20# and up have rod clamps with lanyard/hook option molded in (use the harness lugs on TANKS).
Conchydong, I like the idea of those zip ties. When they break there economical to replace. Great tip, thanks.
Leo
Same here Leo, these would be for my spinning gear. You also make a good point about conchy's zip ties, I think i'm going that way.
Try to find the better quality nylon zips they will outlast the cheaper plastic by a large margin.
Buzz
Sal,
Tried "Conchy's" zip ties and really like the idea. The zip-ties rotate around the diameter of the rod with my medium-sized zip (maybe use a smaller zip but also get a smaller hole), but suprised to see that verticle movement is zero, nada! Now to get some in black (most of my rods are black) and Im going to sand/dremel the thickness of the eye to accomodate smaller hooks for smaller line class rigs. The width of the zips that I have on hand and plan to use going forward is 3/16inch. For my lite-line/narrow diameter blank rods I'll continue to use the hook keepers show in the pix. I sent you a pm as well Sal and thanx for bringing-up this topic which generated the great tip from conchy.
Thanx guys,
Leo
Leo, that EZ-Keeper works like a charm. I did have a little hard time installing it, but that's because of my big fingers. It's a nice simple design.
Thanks for sending it to me.
Sal
If you use circle hooks (that's all I use) take a piece of "rescue tape", self adhering with no adhesive and wrap it around your rod just above the hook keeper to prevent scratches. I have a g-loomis pro blue that's cosmetically challenged due to the ez-keepers design but still nails fish ;)
I have actually had it on that rod for 3 years and is still going strong... just use a shot of the tape and you're good to go. I'd hate to see one of those Fenwicks with a scratch :o ;)
Dom
Dom, the Fenwicks stay home, I use cheaper but good rods for fishing. The ez-keepers help, so the hook doesn't poke an eye out when moving to different spots. Good tip on the tape ;), later buddy.
sal
Sal,
The keepers are great for hooking up between drifts and such... Just make sure you don't try to leave a squid/spearing combo on the hook when you hook it up... Like my 6 yr old nephew. Was wondering why the cabin stunk for a week? Although it did get me to cleaned the bilges cause I thought that was it ;)
Guys,
Dom, thanx for that tip on the tape above the hook keeper; excellent.
Sal, if you try to relocate the keeper dont try to roll it, the o-ring will come off. Just remove and relocate (I think this is how I lost some). I included the larger o-ring for a larger blank diameter. Hope it works out for you.
The eye of the keeper is a limitation that Conchy's zip tie overcomes for the most part (cant believe I had some in my jar of zip ties). For the occasions when the Fuji-type keeper's eye is large enough BUT the o-ring config wont work Im going to cut bicycle inner tube into small strip and punch-out eye for the attachment point (where o-ring would normally go). That way I have a flat instead of round piece of rubber and length will not be a concern. Got the idea after seeing the photo in the beginning of the post. Old inner tubes are free and have MANY uses.
Thanx guys,
Leo
Conchy's zip tie trick is a good one for oversized rods, especially 8)
To elaborate a little on the zip tie idea would be to forgo the hook keeper all together and just use 2 zipties and the rescue tape.
Loop one zip tie in the area where you want your keeper to remain... just don't fasten it down all the way. Now take the other zip tie (keep it flat) and slip it under the first tie. Now make a loop with the second zip tie. Fasten down the first zip tie (around the rod) tightly, and now adjust the hook keeper tie to what ever size you need. Cut off excess and you should be good to go for under 20 cents. For protection from scratches use the rescue tape above keeper tie. Sorry for the lack of computer skills and awesome diagrams like Redsetta supplies with his explanations.
Hope it works for ya,
Dom
Been using my hook keeper since April, can make any size loop you want.
Squirm,
...and that actually looks nice, too!
Dom
The only problem is if you want to take the hook keeper off the grip then it still has marks from being compressed.
I bet if you whipped some marlin over the grip before the mono it wouldn't compress as much. Good tight wraps by the way.
Ron